A Baroque fantasy in two actsDevised and written by Jeremy Sams DEBUTInspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and

A Midsummer Night’s DreamMusic by George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi,

Jean-Philippe Rameau, André Campra, Jean-Marie Leclair, Henry Purcell, Jean-Féry Rebel, and Giovanni Battista Ferrandini

Saturday, December 31, 2011, 6:30–9:45 pm

World PremiereNew Year’s Eve Gala

CONDUCTOR William Christie

PRODUCTION

Phelim McDermott

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & SET DESIGNER

Julian Crouch

COSTUME DESIGNER Kevin Pollard

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Brian MacDevitt

CHOREOGRAPHER

Graciela Daniele

ANIMATION AND PROJECTION DESIGN

59 Productions

GENERAL MANAGER

Peter Gelb

MUSIC DIRECTOR

James Levine

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Fabio Luisi

The Enchanted Island

The production of The Enchanted Island was made possible by a generous gift from Dr. David G. Knott and Ms. Françoise Girard.

Major funding was received from Rolex.

Additional funding was received from the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. William R. Miller, American Express, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Saturday, December 31, 2011, 6:30–9:45 pm

IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

ConductorWilliam Christie

ProsperoDavid Daniels

ArielDanielle de Niese **

SycoraxJoyce DiDonato

CalibanLuca Pisaroni

MirandaLisette Oropesa **

HelenaLayla Claire *

HermiaElizabeth DeShong

DemetriusPaul Appleby *

2011–2012 Season

World Premiere

The Enchanted Island

This performance is being broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 74 and streamed at metopera.org.

LysanderElliot Madore * DEBUT

NeptunePlácido Domingo

QuartetAshley Emerson **Monica YunusPhilippe Castagner **Tyler Simpson

FerdinandAnthony Roth Costanzo

CONTINUOBradley Brookshire, harpsichordDavid Heiss, cello

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A set design for The Enchanted Island by Julian Crouch

Chorus Master Donald PalumboMusical Advisor Ellen RosandDramaturg Paul CremoMusical Preparation Steven Eldredge, Dan Saunders,

Carol Isaac, Steven White, and Bradley BrookshireAssistant Stage Directors Peter McClintock,

Sarah Ina Meyers, and Kathleen Smith Belcher Met Titles Michael PanayosPrompter Carol IsaacEnglish Coach Erie MillsAssistant to the Set Designer Rob ThirtleAssistant to the Costume Designer Amanda StoodleyScenery, properties, and electrical props constructed and

painted in Metropolitan Opera ShopsCostumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume

Department Wigs by Metropolitan Opera Wig DepartmentMasks by Julian Crouch

animation and projection

Designers Mark Grimmer, Lysander Ashton, Leo Warner (59 Productions); Animators Zsolt Balogh, MIE Ltd., Sergei Shabarov, Peter Stenhouse, Lawrence Watson; Programmer Benjamin Pearcy

The Metropolitan Opera and 59 Productions extend their sympathies to the family of Peter Stenhouse, 59 Productions’ Director of Animation, who created the memorable Chagall animation for the Met’s 125th Anniversary Gala and was working on material for The Enchanted Island when he died in August, aged 30.

This performance is made possible in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Before the performance begins, please switch off cell phones and other electronic devices.

This production uses flash and lightning effects.

Met TitlesTo activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of your seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display, press the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an usher at intermission.

Yamaha is the official piano of the Metropolitan Opera.

Latecomers will not be admitted during the performance.

* Member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program

** Graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program

David Daniels as Prospero and Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax Photograph by Nick Heavican, scenic design by Julian Crouch

�e Metropolitan Opera is grateful to Rolex for its generous support of the 2011–12 season.

2011–12 season

OFFICIAL TIMEPIECE

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Act IProspero, the exiled Duke of Milan, lives on a remote island with his daughter, Miranda, surrounded by his books, potions, and instruments of magic. Prospero had at first taken up with the sorceress Sycorax, who ruled the island. But having loved her, he left her, banishing her to the dark side of the island, stealing her sprite servant, Ariel, and enslaving her son, Caliban.

Our story begins some 16 years later. In his cell, an aging Prospero conceives a final plan to ensure Miranda’s future happiness and end his exile. He divines that a ship is passing nearby bearing the King of Naples and Prince Ferdinand, whom Prospero has destined for Miranda. Prospero commands Ariel to perform a spell that will cause a storm and shipwreck the royals on the island. In return, he promises Ariel his freedom.

Caliban, who has overheard their conversation, rushes to Sycorax’s cave to tell his mother. Sensing that Prospero is vulnerable, Sycorax tells Caliban to steal a vial of dragon’s blood from Prospero’s cell, which she will use to restore her enfeebled powers so she and Caliban can regain control of the island.

Near his cell, Prospero finds Miranda troubled by dreams and unfamiliar emotions. Meanwhile, Caliban steals the vial, vowing that he will rule the island with Miranda as his queen. He substitutes another vial of worthless lizard’s blood. Ariel mistakenly uses this for the Tempest Spell, with catastrophic consequences: Two pairs of honeymooning lovers—Helena and Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander—are shipwrecked when their vessel flounders and separately cast ashore on the island.

Prospero commands Ariel to find Prince Ferdinand and cast a spell on him to ensure that Ferdinand and Miranda will fall in love immediately. But the first man Ariel sees is Demetrius, not Ferdinand. Ariel dutifully casts the spell on him and leads him to Miranda. The two fall in love, much to Prospero’s fury.

Lysander has come ashore on a golden strand near Prospero’s cell. He is cursing Neptune for, he thinks, washing his beloved Hermia out to sea. Ariel wrongly assumes that he has finally found Ferdinand and casts the spell to make Miranda and Lysander fall in love—much to Demetrius’s fury.

An exhausted Helena arrives in a forest on the other side of the island. She is observed by Sycorax, who decides to give Helena to Caliban as his queen instead of Miranda, the daughter of her enemy. Using the stolen dragon’s blood, Sycorax conjures a spell to make Helena fall in love with Caliban—much to his delight—and hopes the spell is strong enough to last.

Ariel, having cast a spell on the wrong man twice, realizes that the true Ferdinand must still be somewhere out at sea. He decides to go to the very top, and calls upon Neptune for help. The sea god appears, furious that a human, Lysander, has been

Synopsis

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cursing him and angry that Ariel has disturbed the peace in his realm. Ariel begs Neptune to find Ferdinand, and Neptune finally agrees to scour the seas.

Outside his cell, Prospero contemplates the chaos he has wrought—lovers mismatched, Ariel frantic, Caliban running wild, and Ferdinand nowhere in sight. He despairs of ever achieving his dream.

Intermission (at APPROXIMATELY 8:05 PM)

Act IIOn the shore, Hermia awakens from a nightmare, only to realize that her dream was all too true: Her new husband Lysander was swept away from her in the storm. She runs off to find him and discovers him at Prospero’s cell doting on Miranda—with no memory of his wife.

In her cave, Sycorax exults in her revived powers and the certainty that she will soon have her revenge on Prospero and regain control of the island for her son.

Hermia is reunited with Helena. Helena’s memory and emotions have been stirred by the sight of Demetrius, despite the fact that he is with Miranda and fails to recognize her. Hermia and Helena bemoan the fickleness of men. Helena then takes off after Demetrius, spurning Caliban, who is crushed. Caliban rushes to Sycorax for consolation, but she explains that hearts that love can always be broken.

Caliban, in his fury, steals a magic book from Prospero’s cell and conjures a dream of himself as a potentate of the world, attended by loving subjects. When his fantasy spins out of control and the creatures turn on him, Prospero intervenes and disperses them.

Neptune finds Ferdinand’s ship and sends it racing toward the island. Ferdinand looks toward his future. Like Miranda, he has been dreaming of an elusive someone.

Ariel sets about putting matters to rights, leading the five mismatched lovers through a forest maze until they fall asleep side by side. Ariel ensures through his magic that, when they awaken, the lovers are paired with their proper and previous mates. All make their way to the shore to see Ferdinand and the king arrive, greeted by Prospero. Ferdinand reads the pardon ending Prospero’s exile. When he sees Miranda, he falls in love instantly, deeply and forever—no spell required.

Sycorax enters with Caliban and challenges Prospero. When he rebuffs her, Neptune appears and takes her part, berating Prospero for victimizing others as he himself was once victimized. Ashamed, Prospero begs forgiveness of Sycorax and gives the island back to her and her son. Neptune extols the virtues of mercy and Sycorax grants Prospero forgiveness. All join to celebrate a new day of joy, peace, and love.

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Synopsis CONTINUED

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World Premiere: New York, Metropolitan Opera, 2011Inspired by the 18th-century tradition of the pastiche, The Enchanted Island is a new work featuring music by some of the Baroque era’s greatest composers and a new libretto devised and written by Jeremy Sams. A popular genre in its day, a pastiche (or pasticcio) combines existing music by one or several composers with a new text and storyline. Handel, Vivaldi, and Rameau all devised pastiches from their own music. The dramatic framework of The Enchanted Island brings together situations and characters from two Shakespearean plays: the four lovers from A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on Prospero’s island from The Tempest during their return from their honeymoon voyage. In addition to the characters found in the original plays, The Enchanted Island imagines the sorceress Sycorax (who is mentioned in The Tempest but never appears on stage) and Prospero vying for control of the island. The musical selections are drawn from the works of a wide range of composers, including some who are lesser known today, such as André Campra, Jean-Marie Leclair, and Jean-Féry Rebel. The great operas of the early 18th century are remarkably well suited to this process of rearrangement, since their solos were usually tailored to the skills of specific performers, and replacements of individual numbers were a common feature of revivals at the time. (In fact, the stars of the Met production had some input on the selection of their respective arias.) The Enchanted Island celebrates this music and pays homage to the tradition of its creation, while also showcasing the talents of some of today’s most accomplished interpreters of the Baroque repertoire.

The CreatorsThe German-born George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) spent most of his career in London. While his choral and orchestral works have remained popular up to the present day, his more than 40 operas disappeared from the stage for almost two centuries. The modern Handel opera revival began in the 1920s and has brought many works back to the repertoire in recent decades. The equally prolific Italian Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) likewise is best remembered today for his orchestral pieces, in particular the violin concertos known as “The Four Seasons.” Most of his operas (he claimed to have written close to a hundred, of which some two dozen survive) still await rediscovery. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), France’s leading composer in his time, wrote operas in several styles. Although influential, his œuvre fell into obscurity until interest in early music was revived in the 20th century. Henry Purcell (1658/59–1695), one of England’s greatest composers, was a creator of sacred and secular music in a variety of forms. Among his most famous works is the opera Dido and Aeneas. He contributed music to an adaptation of The Tempest in 1694. Other musical numbers in The Enchanted Island are taken from the works of the Venetian Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (c. 1710–1791) and three French composers: André Campra (1660–1744), Jean-Féry Rebel (1666–1747), and Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764). The plays of William Shakespeare (1564–1616), among the most highly regarded works in the English language, have provided rich material for opera composers for centuries. Jeremy Sams, who devised the new libretto for The Enchanted Island, is a British writer, translator, director, and composer who has worked with London’s Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, and the Royal National Theatre, as well as on Broadway and in the West End.

In Focus: The Enchanted Island

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Program Note

by Jeremy Sams

Looking back over this one it’s hard to recall which came first—the words, the music, the story, the cast…? All those factors influenced each of the others at some time or other. The one thing certain is that the original idea came from

Peter Gelb. “Imagine,” he said, “taking the hidden gems from a century of music, and turning them into one opera. Oh, and it has to be in English.” That was the genesis, and like the best of them it culminated (for me at least) in revelations. I embarked on a very eclectic listening regime. I knew my Handel—at least I thought I did—but I now started listening to everything in growing amazement. I was reminded of what George Bernard Shaw wrote about a revelatory Beethoven performance: “I did with my ears what I do with my eyes when they stare.” The operas, more than 40 of them, are stuffed with wonders. The oratorios are every bit as dramatic. Most revelatory to me was the Handel of the early Italian cantatas and of youthful masterpieces like The Triumph of Time and The Resurrection, where we see an already fully-formed genius spreading his wings. Handel is above all a theater man to his fingertips. Even the Coronation Anthems (I allowed myself a ridiculously famous one—but Domingo’s entrance seemed to demand it) are every bit as theatrical as his magical operas.

After Handel came Vivaldi, who, thanks to some remarkable recent recordings, is now very much on the operatic map. If he perhaps can’t match Handel’s range (who can?), he has an aching lyricism and above all a kinetic energy, a virile oomph unrivaled by any of his contemporaries. He weighs in with nine arias in The Enchanted Island. I could have included 20 more.

The other main strand of my listening was the French Baroque. Here again we find a host of theater folk. Not just Lully and Charpentier (neither of whom made the cut), but above all Rameau. Rameau is simply astonishing. Rarely does old music sound so modern. As eccentric as Berlioz, he came to opera even later in his life than Janácek and wrote the best ballet music before Tchaikovsky, some may say before Stravinsky. My Act II “dream ballet” (Enchanted Island is indebted here, as often elsewhere, to Broadway precedent) is mostly Rameau. Rameau’s operas themselves are direct descendants of a weird and wonderful school of French cantatas (notably by Leclair) in which sorceresses and incantations abound, and it was becoming increasingly clear that my story was going to need both.

So, to the story. My thinking was, simply put, that a new take on old music needs a new take on an old story. It’s hard (at least for me) to think of stories without thinking of Shakespeare—and it was listening to Purcell that first brought The Tempest to mind. Dryden’s version, with music by Purcell, was indeed called The Enchanted Island, a title too good to miss. Dryden, though, had spotted that a desert island is going, by definition, to be slightly devoid of love interest, and love is what fuels the aria-making machine that is Baroque opera. Someone falls in love… Aria. Someone looks on… Jealousy Aria. Someone is deceived… Aria of Rage. Love drives the bus. Dryden’s addition of a boy-mad sister to Miranda wasn’t too inspiring. But his fleshing out of the sorceress Sycorax—Caliban’s mother and Ariel’s former mistress—was too good not to steal. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to imagine her seduced, spurned, and then banished by Prospero to the dark side of the island. He steals her land, her son, her servant, her heart—all useful motives for revenge, and for the Revenge Aria (we have a cracker in Act I), not to mention reconciliation and the

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Forgiveness Aria (ditto in Act II). Still, the lack of a love interest remained. The aria machine was demanding more fuel. My back-up choice of Shakespeare play was always A Midsummer Night’s Dream, mostly for its four intertwining lovers, with their four voice types (they reappear, you’ll notice, in Così fan tutte, in The Gondoliers, even, mutatis mutandis, in Sondheim’s Follies). I was getting character envy. So I thought, let’s mix them up and see where the story takes us. Lysander and Demetrius are maybe accompanying their wives on a post-play honeymoon cruise, when they get caught up in Ariel’s tempest. Why did he zap the wrong ship? Because Sycorax corrupted the spell. Maybe she then tries to ensure the future of her island by helping Helena to fall for Caliban. Miranda, aided by the increasingly incompetent Ariel (most Puck-like in his haplessness) can fall in love, with equal fervor, with Demetrius and Lysander. Lest things get too complicated, I could hide Hermia in a cave until Act II. It was sort of writing itself.

Which brings me to casting. As soon as I thought of The Tempest I was hearing voices. Prospero—numinous, shamanic—could only be a countertenor. Spritely Ariel, a coloratura soprano. Caliban, a bass. Sycorax, a dramatic mezzo. Miranda, a lyric soprano. At the same time, the Met was planning the season, and their wish list was remarkably congruent with my needs. David Daniels, Danielle de Niese, Luca Pisaroni, Joyce DiDonato, and Lisette Oropesa were free and interested, and I was starting to feel like a greedy kid in a candy store.

Then came Plácido Domingo. Peter invited him to join the production and asked if I could create a role for him. Could I? Thus the role of Neptune was born. And very handy he proved for plot purposes. A god (Domingo has, amazingly, never played one) can always galvanize events, and put wrongs to right. I always wanted the characters to go on a journey, and Neptune is no exception. He starts depressed and irritable—his powers are waning, his oceans polluted—but he rediscovers his mojo, as it were, and intervenes in the affairs of men. His is the climax of Act I, an astonishing Handel scena (from Tamerlano) that segues into some epic helden-Rameau.

By now music and story were informing each other. A ravishing sleep aria from Vivaldi’s Tito Manlio demanded to be included, so I wrote a sleep scene to justify it. Similarly, the artists, now cast, had music they very much wanted to sing. (Interestingly, Vivaldi was high on everyone’s list of preferences.) I was only too happy to bend the story to lead to the preferred arias. By this stage, also, missing jigsaw pieces, all dictated by the story, were being identified. I would contact our maestro, William Christie, and Yale’s Ellen Rosand (fount of knowledge on all things Baroque) and ask questions like, “Is there a fast trio for baritone, tenor, and soprano, in which the woman is impervious to male wooing?” (Yes, in Handel’s Susanna.) “Is there a mixed quartet that might sound like two couples waking up?” (Yes again, in Vivaldi’s La Verità in Cimento.) “Does anyone know a Baroque sextet?” (No, so I fashioned one out of an early Handel quartet.) And so it continued…

…until the present day. Our director, Phelim McDermott, workshopped the piece last year, Broadway style, to see if it would stand up. It was surprisingly firm on its feet, but far from finished. Numbers were abandoned, others replaced, as I began to apply final coats of paint—to make sure that contrasting numbers flowed into each other and, most importantly, that the music should seem a symptom of the story rather than a cause. That work is, at the time of this writing, continuing. Staging

Program Note CONTINUED

43Visit metopera.org

necessarily has its musical implications. Each of the roles is written for the artists who are creating them, and it is a luxury to have the input of a room full of world-class talent. And to watch sets, lights, orchestra, chorus, costumes, everything, arriving at the feast.

I still feel like that greedy kid in the candy store—and I’m getting fatter daily.

For a complete list of the musical numbers sung in The Enchanted Island, including the names of the composers and the original operas in which they appeared, visit metopera.org/enchantedisland.

Co

urtesy Julian Cro

uch

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The Cast and Creative Team

this season The Enchanted Island at the Met.career highlights He is a film director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist. He came to prominence as a director with a revival of Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off at London’s Royal National Theatre in 2000, which later transferred to the West End and to Broadway. Among his other London directing credits are Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz, Spend Spend Spend, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He also directed the Broadway productions of Amour (which he translated from Didier Van Cauwelaert’s original French libretto), Jason Robert Brown’s 13, and The Sound of Music, which ran in the West End and Toronto. Among his translations are plays by Botho Strauss; The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème, The Magic Flute, and Wagner’s Ring cycle for English National Opera; The Merry Widow for Covent Garden; The Miser and Mary Stuart for the Royal National Theatre; and The Threepenny Opera for the Donmar Warehouse.

Jeremy Samslibrettist (london, england)

this season The Enchanted Island at the Met, Mozart’s Il Re Pastore with the Zurich Opera and at the Salzburg Festival, and concerts and opera performances with the early-music ensemble Les Arts Florissants, including Lully’s Atys at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Handel’s Jephtha at Paris’s Salle Playel, and Cavalli’s La Didone at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.met appearances Così fan tutte (debut, 2010).career highlights He is the music director of Les Arts Florissants, which he founded in 1971, and has collaborated with theater and opera directors including Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen, Alfredo Arias, Jorge Lavelli, Graham Vick, Adrian Noble, Andrei Serban, and Luc Bondy on works including Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Indes Galantes, Alcina, and Les Boréades at the Paris Opera; Médée, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Les Boréades, Serse, and Les Paladins at the Théâtre de Caen; Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Opéra du Rhin; and King Arthur and Les Paladins at Paris’s Châtelet. He has also conducted Theodora and Rodelinda at Glyndebourne; Iphigénie en Tauride, Les Indes Galantes, Radamisto, Orlando, and Semele at the Zurich Opera; and Così fan tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro in Lyon.

William Christieconductor (buffalo, new york)

Phelim McDermottdirector (manchester, england)

this season Satyagraha and The Enchanted Island.met productions Satyagraha (debut, 2008) and the 125th Anniversary Gala.career highlights He has been performing and directing since 1984. Directing credits include Doctor Faustus and Improbable Tales (Nottingham Playhouse), The Government Inspector

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this season Satyagraha and The Enchanted Island.met productions Satyagraha (debut, 2008), Doctor Atomic, and the 125th Anniversary Gala. career highlights He is a director, designer, writer, and teacher whose career has spanned theater, opera, film, and television. Early in his career he worked with Trickster and Welfare State International. In 1992 he began a creative partnership with Phelim McDermott, and their most enduring collaboration to date has been the award-winning Shockheaded Peter for Cultural Industry. With Lee Simpson and Nick Sweeting, he and McDermott formed Improbable theatre company in 1996. Their productions of 70 Hill Lane, Sticky, and The Devil and Mr. Punch have gained international recognition. Recently he has designed Jerry Springer—The Opera, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (London’s National Theatre), The Magic Flute (Welsh National Opera), and The Addams Family (Broadway and U.S. tour), winning an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award for outstanding set design.

Julian Crouchassociate director and set designer (keighley, england)

this season Satyagraha and The Enchanted Island at the Met. met productions Satyagraha (debut, 2008).career highlights He has collaborated with Improbable theatre company on The Government Inspector at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the English Shakespeare Company, the multi-award-winning Shockheaded Peter at Hamburg’s Schauspielhaus and Off-Broadway, Satyagraha and The Pearl Fishers for English National Opera, and L’Amour de Loin for English National Opera and Vlamse Opera. He has also designed costumes for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for London’s National Theatre, The Magic Flute for Welsh National Opera, and Out in the City, Pere Ubu, and Tom Sawyer for Manchester’s Contact Theatre (where he was costume supervisor and designer). Dance credits include Tmesis, Memento Mori, Anima, and The Dreadful Hours for the Tmesis Theatre Company and Ménage à Trois for the National Theatre of Scotland.

Kevin Pollardcostume designer (liverpool, england)

(West Yorkshire Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (English Shakespeare Co), and Shockheaded Peter (with the Tiger Lillies). He co-founded Improbable theatre company in 1996; productions with the company include 70 Hill Lane (Obie Award), Lifegame, Animo, Coma, Spirit, Cinderella, The Hanging Man, Theatre of Blood, Panic, and The Still. He is a Time Out Best Director, Olivier Award winner, and Honorary Doctor of Middlesex University. He is also a regular improvising guest with London’s Comedy Store Players.

this season The Enchanted Island at the Met. met productions Le Comte Ory, Armida, and Doctor Atomic (debut, 2008).

Brian MacDevittlighting designer (long island, new york)

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this season The Enchanted Island at the Met. met productions Armida (debut, 2010).career highlights She has earned ten Tony Award nominations and six Drama Desk nominations for her work on Broadway, at Lincoln Center Theater, and at the Public Theater. Broadway directing/choreographing credits include Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Annie Get Your Gun, Marie Christine, Once on This Island, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Dangerous Game. She has staged and choreographed shows including Ragtime, The Goodbye Girl, Zorba, The Rink, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She also choreographed the New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway, in Los Angeles, and in London, as well as the feature film. Work with Woody Allen includes the films Mighty Aphrodite and Everyone Says I Love You. She also directed and choreographed William Finn’s A New Brain and Elegies: A Song Cycle and directed Michael John LaChiusa’s Bernarda Alba for Lincoln Center Theater and LaChiusa’s Little Fish for Second Stage Theatre.

Graciela Danielechoreographer (buenos aires, argentina)

The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

this season Satyagraha and The Enchanted Island at the Met.met productions Satyagraha (debut, 2008), Doctor Atomic, and the 125th Anniversary Gala.company highlights Specializing in the design and integration of film and projection technology into live performance and artistic environments, the work of 59 Productions includes War Horse and Waves (Lincoln Center Theater/National Theatre), Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera/Music Theatre Group/Opera Company of Philadelphia), and Two Boys, Satyagraha, Idomeneo, The Pearl Fishers, Messiah, Doctor Atomic, Dr Dee, and After Dido (English National Opera). They have also created work for Invitus Invitam, The Seven Deadly Sins, and The Goldberg Project (Royal Ballet), Five Truths (Victoria & Albert Museum/59), Roald Dahl’s “Twisted Tales” (Lyric Hammersmith), Beauty and the Beast (National Theatre), Fräulein Julie (Berlin’s Schaubühne), a world tour of Les Misérables,

59 Productionsanimation and projection design (From left) leo warner, mark grimmer, lysander ashton

(edinburgh, scotland)

career highlights Recent work includes Broadway productions of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Book of Mormon, and The House of Blue Leaves, recent seasons’ A Behanding in Spokane, Fences, Merce Cunningham’s Nearly Ninety at BAM, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone for Lincoln Center Theater (Tony Award). He has also received Tony Awards for his lighting designs for Broadway productions of The Coast of Utopia, The Pillowman, and Into the Woods. Additional Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, The Color Purple, Urinetown, Master Class, and The Invention of Love. He designed lighting for the film The Cradle Will Rock and for productions at the Abbey Theatre, Lyon Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Tere O’Connor Dance Company, Nancy Bannon’s works, and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Currently on the faculty of the University of Maryland, he is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Obie, Lucille Lortel, Los Angeles Ovation, Bessie, and Drama Desk awards.

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this season Helena in The Enchanted Island and Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Met, and Sandrina in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera for her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Concert and recital performances include her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall, debuts with the Dallas, Toronto, Baltimore, and Kansas City symphonies, and an appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. met appearances Tebaldo in Don Carlo (debut, 2010) in New York and on tour in Japan and as a soloist in the Met’s 2011 Summer Recital Series.career highlights Recent performances include Marenka in The Bartered Bride in a joint production of the Juilliard School and the Met, and debuts with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston, San Francisco, and Norrköping (Sweden) symphonies. She is the 2010 and 2011 recipient of the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award and is currently a member of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Layla Clairesoprano (penticton, canada)

this season Ariel in The Enchanted Island at the Met, Atalanta in Handel’s Serse at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, and Norina in Don Pasquale for her debut with the San Diego Opera.met appearances Despina in Così fan tutte, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, the Child in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Poussette in Manon, and Susanna and Barbarina (debut, 1998) in Le Nozze di Figaro.career highlights Recent performances include Susanna with the San Francisco Opera, the title role of Handel’s Rodelinda at the Theater an der Wien and Canadian Opera Company, and Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Glyndebourne Festival. She has also sung Cleopatra at Glyndebourne, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Netherlands Opera; Semele at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; and Galatea in Acis and Galatea at Covent Garden. She is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Danielle de Niesesoprano (melbourne, australia)

Thyestes (Arcola), Black Watch (National Theatre of Scotland), Al Gran Sole Carico d’Amore (Salzburg Festival), Wunschkonzert (Schauspiel Cologne), The Minotaur and Salome (Covent Garden), and Dorian Grey (New Adventures).

this season Hermia in The Enchanted Island at the Met, Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia for the San Francisco Opera, Angelina in La Cenerentola for the Glyndebourne Festival, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Seiji Ozawa in Japan.met appearances Suzy in La Rondine (debut, 2008) and the Priestess in Aida.career highlights Angelina with the Canadian Opera Company, Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Canadian Opera Company, the Page in Salome with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and for her debut with the San

Elizabeth DeShongmezzo-soprano (williamsport, pennsylvania)

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this season Sycorax in The Enchanted Island at the Met, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and Elena in La Donna del Lago at La Scala, and the title role of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at Houston Grand Opera.met appearances Isolier in Le Comte Ory, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (debut, 2005), Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette.career highlights Rosina at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Los Angeles Opera, and Covent Garden; Sister Helen in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking in Houston; the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon at Covent Garden; Adalgisa in Norma at the Salzburg Festival; Cherubino with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Elena and Idamante in Idomeneo with the Paris Opera; Angelina in La Cenerentola at La Scala; Dejanira in Handel’s Hercules at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and London’s Barbican Centre; Octavian in San Francisco; and the title role of Handel’s Ariodante in Paris and London.

Joyce DiDonatomezzo-soprano (kansas city, missouri)

The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

this season Miranda in The Enchanted Island at the Met, Romilda in Handel’s Serse for her debut with the San Francisco Opera, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Pittsburgh Opera, and Ismene in Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera.met appearances Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice, Lisette in La Rondine, Woglinde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Woodbird in Siegfried, Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, Madrigal Singer in Manon Lescaut, Cretan Woman in Idomeneo (debut, 2006), and Lay Sister in Suor Angelica.career highlights Recent performances include the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Leïla in Les Pêcheurs de Perles in New Orleans, Nannetta in Falstaff in Bilbao, and Gilda in Rigoletto in New Orleans and with the Arizona Opera. She is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Lisette Oropesasoprano (new orleans, louisiana)

this season Demetrius in The Enchanted Island at the Met, his European debut as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress in Frankfurt, and his debut with the New York Philharmonic. met appearances Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos (debut, 2011).

Paul Applebytenor (south bend, indiana)

Francisco Opera, the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka for her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos with Washington National Opera, and Suzuki with the Santa Fe Opera. She is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.

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Anthony Roth Costanzocountertenor (durham, north carolina)

this season Unulfo in Rodelinda for his debut and Ferdinand in The Enchanted Island at the Met, and Athamas in Semele for his debut with the Canadian Opera Company.career highlights Recent debuts include Ottone in Agrippina with the Boston Lyric Opera, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice with the Palm Beach Opera, and Artemis in Henze’s Phaedra with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. He has also sung the title role of Tolomeo, the Sorcerer in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Nireno in Giulio at the Glimmerglass Opera; Prince Go-Go in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre and Armindo in Partenope at New York City Opera; and Miles in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with the New Jersey Opera Festival. He was a winner of the Met’s 2009 National Council Auditions.

this season Prospero in The Enchanted Island at the Met, Arsamene in Handel’s Serse with the San Francisco Opera, and the title role in Handel’s Rinaldo with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.met appearances Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, Giulio Cesare and Sesto (debut, 1999) in Giulio Cesare, Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Bertarido in Rodelinda.career highlights Recent performances include Lichas in Handel’s Hercules and Oberon in Chicago, Roberto in Vivaldi’s Griselda with the Santa Fe Opera, and Orfeo with the Minnesota Opera. He has also sung Arsamene with Houston Grand Opera, Giulio Cesare at the Glyndebourne Festival, Ottone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with the Los Angeles Opera, the title role of Orlando with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Arsace in Partenope and Orfeo in Chicago, Arsamene with New York City Opera, and Bertarido in San Francisco.

David Danielscountertenor (spartanburg, south carolina)

career highlights Recent performances include Jeník in The Bartered Bride in a joint production of the Juilliard School and the Met, Agenore in Il Re Pastore with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gomatz in Zaïde with Wolf Trap Opera, and Gomatz in concert at Carnegie Hall with Ensemble ACJW. He has also appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, at the Aspen and Caramoor festivals, and in recital at Alice Tully Hall. He is currently a member of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

this season Neptune in The Enchanted Island at the Met and the title role of Simon Boccanegra with the Los Angeles Opera. He also conducts Madama Butterfly at the Met, Roméo et Juliette with the Los Angeles Opera, and Tosca with Washington National Opera. met appearances He has opened the Met season a record 21 times and performed 46 roles with the company since his 1968 debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur. Since making his conducting debut in 1984 with La Bohème, he has returned to the podium for nine additional operas.

Plácido Domingotenor (madrid, spain)

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The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

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this season Lysander in The Enchanted Island for his debut and the Novice’s Friend in Billy Budd at the Met, Ramiro in L’Heure Espagnol and the Cat/Grandfather Clock in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Glyndebourne Festival, and a concert with the Edmonton Symphony.career highlights He has sung the title role of Don Giovanni with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Schaunard in La Bohème with Opera Colorado, the Japanese Envoy in concert performances of Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol for his Salzburg Festival debut, and the Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is currently a member of the company’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Elliot Madorebaritone (toronto, canada)

this season Leporello in Don Giovanni and Caliban in The Enchanted Island at the Met and Argante in Rinaldo for his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.met appearances Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and Publio in La Clemenza di Tito (debut, 2005).career highlights Recent performances include Figaro with the San Francisco Opera, Paris Opera, and Vienna State Opera; Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Houston Grand Opera; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Glyndebourne Festival; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; and Melisso in Handel’s Alcina at Paris’s Bastille Opera. He has also sung Tiridate in Handel’s Radamisto with the Santa Fe Opera, the King in Ariodante at the Theater an der Wien, the title role of Cavalli’s Ercole Amante with the Netherlands Opera, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at Paris’s Bastille Opera, Alidoro in La Cenerentola in Santiago, Publio at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Achilla in Giulio Cesare in Brussels.

Luca Pisaronibass-baritone (ciudad bolivar, venezuela)

career highlights His repertoire includes 137 different roles, and he has sung more than 3,500 performances and appeared in more than 50 film and video productions. He recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his debuts at the Met, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, and Arena di Verona. In 1993 he founded the international vocal competition Operalia. A prolific recording artist, he is the recipient of 12 Grammy Awards over the course of his career. He is currently general director of the Los Angeles Opera and was general director of Washington National Opera from 2003 through June 2011.